Building a Better Superman: How Zack Snyder Can Forge a New Man of Steel

Share

Building a Better Superman: How Zack Snyder Can Forge a New Man of Steel

How will Zack Snyder transform Superman for the silver screen?Image from Action Comics courtesy DC Comics

Now that producer Christopher Nolan has entrusted Zack Snyder with stewardship of the Superman movie franchise, things should get really interesting.

Nolan and Watchmen director Snyder aim to revive the legacy established by Richard Donner and Christopher Reeve in 1978's Superman movie, which was sullied by a string of less successful movies (most recently Bryan Singer's lackluster 2006 Superman Returns).

Snyder's not talking (much) about the movie, tentatively titled Superman, but he told PopWatch that the Man of Steel reboot would be similar to Nolan's wildly successful Batman movies.

“Think of where Batman was when Chris took that on earlier in the decade," Snyder said. "I think Superman is in a very similar place, in terms of being available and in terms of his relationship to where the culture was at that time. Superman is right there. He’s ready. And can I be any more cryptic?”

Based on a story by Nolan and Batman Begins and The Dark Knight scribe David S. Goyer, humor will likely be in short supply in Warner Bros.' Man of Steel reboot, judging from the somber sensibility that permeates all Nolan's previous projects.

But what does Snyder bring to the table?

First and foremost, he can be counted on to inject massive supplies of adrenaline into the storytelling. Adept at digitally manipulating colors for surreal effect and constructing eye-popping green-screen spectacle, Snyder packed his kinetic action shots in 300 and Watchmen with the wallop common to their pulp sources.

Snyder also knows how to pump up the violence. Where 300 attracted hecklers decrying its blood-spattered vision of ancient male warfare, his upcoming Sucker Punch pushes the femme violence to balletic extremes by hurling four young women into fantasias of bloodshed, complete with World War I armaments, flesh-ripping robots and sword-wielding samurais.

Detractors might accuse Snyder of engaging in visual excess at the expense of nuanced character development, but few will deny that the former TV commercial director knows how to put on a show.

Snyder apparently takes the responsibility seriously. The filmmaker told Hero Complex that he "lays awake at night" pondering his take on DC Comics' most iconic character.

Zack Snyder's Bag of Super Cinematic Tricks
——————————————-

Based on his track record, here's an outside-the-box look at how Snyder might draw from his familiar bag of cinematic tricks to build a better Superman.

Style: Smash-and-grab cinematography propelled by a killer soundtrack sets sights on an elaborate alterna-vision of Metropolis populated by a ticked-off Superman and some truly vicious criminals. There should be loads of ingeniously staged bloodshed, fires and explosions. Introspection? Not so much.

Lex Luthor: Kevin Spacey looked good in a white suit in Superman Returns, but a skull-capped Gene Hackman set the bar as a scenery-chomping Lex Luthor in Superman and Superman II. If Supes' most famous nemesis pops up in this reboot, Snyder should consider Jackie Earle Haley of Watchmen fame. Though he's not a physically large man, Haley more than makes up for the stature issue with an ability to channel a freakish measure of authentic menace.

Lois Lane: Any of the young Sucker Punch stars – Vanessa Hudgens, Emily Browning, Jena Malone or Jamie Chung – could probably do an adequate Lois Lane, but producer Nolan might want to give Snyder a tap on the shoulder and suggest Inception star Ellen Page. Perky, bright and fierce, who better than the Oscar-winning Page to give Margot Kidder a run for her money by bringing some charming friction to Clark Kent's Daily Planet colleague?

She-villain:Carla Gugino, expertly ambivalent in graphic novel-based movies like Sin City and Watchmen, could bring sultry urgency to the role of Silver Banshee. The Gaelic sorceress, capable of literally screaming victims to death, first faced off against Superman in a 1987 issue of Action Comics.

Jor-El: As godfather of the project, Nolan could champion his Inception star Leonardo DiCaprio for the part of Superman's father Jor-El. Lather up DiCaprio, who has never done a comic book movie, with aging prosthetics and he could bring intensity to the character famously incarnated by Marlon Brando in 1978's Superman.

Superman: 300 star Gerard Butler's got the physique, but he's from Scotland, and it just won't do to have a non-American playing Superman, right? Faster than a speeding bullet, Snyder should consider Jon Hamm for the title role. At 39, he'd make the oldest Superman ever. On the other hand, Andrew Garfield, age 27, is prepping to play a teenage Peter Parker in Spider-Man 4, so ageism be damned. Hamm, who appears in Snyder's upcoming Sucker Punch, showed he can play the bespectacled Clark Kent-style geek during his goofy guest shots opposite Tina Fey in TV's 30 Rock. Plus, he's got the jaw line and rugged good looks.

Wild card: Before getting into feature films, Snyder shot a music video in 2000 for British-born pop eccentric Morrisey. The singer has personality to burn. Surely there's got to be room for an evil fop in the Superman reboot. If so, Mr. Snyder, Morrisey's your man.